It looks like there's a max of 4 on the PS4 event currently… if you are interested sign up. Otherwise I will have to reschedule because everybody seems to be playing this stupid mobile slots game…

I'd do the Prestige raid, but I just can't commit to being around all week, and I'm not sure I'll be online much later tonight anyway.

In any case, the new stuff for Horizon is great. The new snow tech is incredible--I've never seen more realistic snow in a game.

I may end up making separate thread in the next day or two to rave about it. (:

As I've told folks before, my one biggest complaint with Horizon Zero Dawn was the fact that the Banuk were barely explored, and you only interact with a small handful during the game (Aluki is bae). Their culture is the most awesome aesthetically, and their hardy lifestyle is very interesting to me (plus, Sylens is very clearly Banuk, but there was never anything brought up about it)... And now they have an entire expansion dedicated to them and their lands? The Frozen Wilds is pretty dang awesome to me simply by existing.

And actually playing it, I'm so happy that the Banuk fashions are just as wonderful as ever:

And while I totally didn't expect it, Sylens's Banuk nature is brought up and then explored almost immediately upon starting the expansion, so +1 for that too...

I'm loving it.

The snowy mountain and forest aesthetic was my favorite in the base game, and this area is absolutely gorgeous. I seriously can't get over how cool the snow is. Coming into a pristine clearing full of snow and then fighting a big machine or a group of scrappers and seeing all the tracks cut through the snow afterwards is really, really cool. And the blizzards that completely destroy any visibility--the weather effects in this game are the best I've ever seen.

Also, seriously, the new machines are a real challenge, and extremely fun. The Scorcher is a real doozy. They definitely expect you to be leveled up and good in combat, and they're not shy about throwing multiple big enemies at you at once, sometimes even with a bunch of smaller support machines running around, too. I did an encounter with a pair of Glinthawks and like ten scrappers running around, and that was a pretty crazy fight.

I'm not super impressed with the "main" story of the expansion, so far. It seems to basically just be the main story of the main game on a smaller scale--rouge AI thing takes over another AI and corrupts the machines. I'm not sure what I expected, and I'm still early, so it could change and get more compelling. Seeing the Banuk culture is the real selling point for me, though, so I'm not too bothered by it.

I would but life is busy now :(

Physical only though, sorry...

Physical only though, sorry...

Too bad I need a physical console to play it on... sometimes I wish all games were crossplatform. Or that there was just one console to play on. I know rivalry is good and helps the market (and I endorse it) but I also wish that I could play all the games :D

Physical only though, sorry...

Too bad I need a physical console to play it on... sometimes I wish all games were crossplatform. Or that there was just one console to play on. I know rivalry is good and helps the market (and I endorse it) but I also wish that I could play all the games :D

Yeah, that would be nice, but alas... Fortunately, Black Friday is upon us, so you can scoop us a PS4 for pretty dang cheap (also check out this Kohl's deal for a 1TB PS4 for $199, with $60 Kohl's Cash reward), and it's worth it just for the exclusives released in this year alone (though you can pick up the past greats such as The Last of Us and Bloodborne for cheap).

I'd do the Prestige raid, but I just can't commit to being around all week, and I'm not sure I'll be online much later tonight anyway.

In any case, the new stuff for Horizon is great. The new snow tech is incredible--I've never seen more realistic snow in a game.

I may end up making separate thread in the next day or two to rave about it. (:

Here's one little detail to rave about...

Something that I noticed about the deeper snow; Aloy trudges in it, rather than having her default walk/jog animation, and when she's running in it, she'll step into it at an angle in a bobbing run, while holding her arms out for balance. It's a little touch that Guerilla didn't have to include, and nobody would have really thought twice about it, but they totally did, and I can only love them more for it.

Yeah it really is awesome.

Making snow angels is pretty cool too. (:

I’m left wondering how dynamic the snow and weather stuff is. I did a big fight last night, and then I walked away from my console for a few minutes. When I cane back, all the tracks we had cut through the snow had filled back in. Just a timer reset, I assume, rather than some sort of dynamic real accumulation?

I’m also thinking if the first Scorcher fight, which happens on that pool that’s frozen over. The Scorcher’s fire attacks had melted it until I was standing in waist deep water by the end. Is that a scripted thing just for that initial fight, or can it happen elsewhere?

LOVING IT SO FAR. I love how it just picks right up. They didn't try to reinvent the wheel, they just gave me more of what I love.

Yeah it really is awesome.

Making snow angels is pretty cool too. (:

I’m left wondering how dynamic the snow and weather stuff is. I did a big fight last night, and then I walked away from my console for a few minutes. When I cane back, all the tracks we had cut through the snow had filled back in. Just a timer reset, I assume, rather than some sort of dynamic real accumulation?

I’m also thinking if the first Scorcher fight, which happens on that pool that’s frozen over. The Scorcher’s fire attacks had melted it until I was standing in waist deep water by the end. Is that a scripted thing just for that initial fight, or can it happen elsewhere?

I noticed that doing snow angels on a different frozen pool seemed to melt the ice somewhat (not entirely sure, though it does leave an observable mark on the ice by her hands), so I'm leaning on the side of it being a dynamic thing, especially after another little detail that I caught. I went up to the dam, and noticed that the guard rails closest to the campfire by the entrance don't have snow/frost on them, but the ones a bit further away from the fire do.

I'm reminded by some of the praise that was given to Uncharted 4, where someone pointed out that we've reached a point where the amazing little details that we would only ever see on tech demo presentations are actually finding their way into the game: